Friday Night Smackdown – July 16th 2021: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary 2021, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and this looks to be a great card, at least on paper. I…wait…it’s not Slammiversary yet…it’s SmackDown! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Son of a b–ch! I wanna review Slammiversary! SmackDown?! Wait. This is 2002! Paul Heyman still runs the show. The SmackDown six are ruling the roster. Brock Lesnar is having the best rookie year possible. The Undertaker isn’t a f–kin’ corpse. Yes! This s–t…is 2021! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Baron Corbin! Noooooooooo!!!!!!!! Godddddddd daaaaaaaaaaamn iiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Wait. The crowds are back. Sweet. Well, it ain’t 2002, but if I can suffer through Ron Killings getting blown up on Raw, then this will be fine. Let’s rock. WWE Friday Night SmackDown starts…on Fridays at 8:00 pm Eastern on FOX. The review commences!
Match #1: Roman Reigns/The Usos b. Edge/The Mysterious
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After Edge and The Mysterios set a devastating trap for Roman Reigns and The Usos last week, all six Superstars battled in a turbulent Six-Man Tag Team Match. Although The Ultimate Opportunist Speared Reigns outside the ring, Jey Uso took advantage of all-out chaos to pick up the victory on The Master of the 619 with a handful of tights. Though The Bloodline earned the win heading into WWE Money in the Bank, another Spear by The Rated-R Superstar stopped a vicious post-match assault by the Universal Champion and company. Edge once again grabbed a chair leg and trapped Reigns in a Crossface that was as devastating as it was humiliating!
The Verdict: 6 out of 10 – Simple tag action started this new era of The WWE off decently enough. Edge and Roman got to renew their feud in the course of the fight, while The Usos and The Mysterious handled the big action. Edge looked excellent here. I know a lot of people have seen his wrestling as diminished compared to a decade ago, but it’s still more than enough to get the job done. Roman did his usual thing and didn’t stink up the joint, which is always nice. The crowd ate this up and made it great. It is very nice to have the people back in the seats, especially for a fast tag bout like this. All in all, the show kicked off with a blast and that’s always what you want.
Match #2: Shotzi/Nox b. Natalya/Tamina
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
One week after overcoming Natalya & Tamina on SmackDown in their debut, Shotzi and Nox once again battled the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions in another Championship Contender Match, with Money in the Bank Ladder Match competitors Lv Morgan and Zelina Vega on commentary. When an altercation broke out between Morgan and Vega, the bedlam allowed Nox to steal the win away from The Queen of Harts. Furious at Liv and Zelina for costing them the match, Natalya and Tamina ignited a post-match brawl that ended with Morgan staring tall!
The Verdict: 3 out of 10 – It was way too brief to be good, but the four of them weren’t lazy and they kept the crowd alive.
Match #3: Bianca Belair b. Carmella – WWE SmackDown Women’s Title Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After Bianca Belair’s planned opponent Bayley was forced to back out of their match due to injury, The EST of WWE instead retained her SmackDown Women’s Championship against the self-proclaimed “Most Beautiful Woman in all of WWE” with the K.O.D.
The Verdict: 7 out of 10 – These two managed to make something out of this last-minute prize fight. Carmella is still no great wrestler, but she knows how to keep up her end of the deal. Bianca is in a similar position, but she is a great performer and that served her well here. The match was very dramatic, with a lot of bursts of action accompanying the slow burn that was Bianca building toward her takeover of the offense. These two carried themselves like stars, which is half the battle. As a comprehensive wrestling match, this faltered. That being said, this was a fine performance from two athletes that were determined to succeed and they did. I look forward to seeing these two wrestle again when they’ve gotten even better.
Match #4: Cesaro b. Otis (DQ)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After The Alpha Academy stated that Otis will destroy anyone who crosses his path, Cesaro looked to put that theory to the test. When Otis was run into the ring post, an interfering Chad Gable attacked and brought an end to the match by disqualification. In response, The Swiss Superman took him for a ride on the Cesaro Swing, but Otis dropped Cesaro mid-swing and laid him out with a vicious splash.
The Verdict: 1 out of 10 – This got no time and ended with a DQ.
Match #5: (Main Event) Seth Rollins b. Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E and Kevin Owens – Fatal 4 Way Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Two days before Sunday’s high-stakes Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Kevin Owens leaped off a ladder, smashing King Nakamura through the SmackDown announce table. Moments later, Seth Rollins escaped from Big E’s Big Ending attempt and Stomped him down on the ladder to score a huge victory over his fellow SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match competitors.
The Verdict: 5 out of 10 – This got very little time, but the spots, stunts and moves were all very good, so this five or so minute match was fun in a sense.
Final Verdict: 4/10
This was not a good show, but the crowd was fantastic and the wrestlers worked hard. This was WWE in a nutshell. The fighters put their all into the action, but the matches were limited so much that the effort of the roster was negated almost completely. Vince just doesn’t learn. Hey. At least these guys had a crowd to work with. That’s a major thing. I had fun here, even if it was unsatisfying. I’ll see you next time.
